EU is set to agree to allow in British tourists who can prove they’ve had Covid jabs

The EU is expected to sign off on plans for people from Britain who have had both jabs to fly in Europe without having to quarantine or take a Covid test.

The so-called vaccine passports could be given the green light as early as Wednesday, according to the Daily Telegraph.

It comes the day after the Government’s travel ban was lifted as the regulations were loosened, with thousands of people flying out to the country’s on the green list.

Passengers disembark from an early morning flight to Madeira, one of the government’s green list destinations, earlier today

The EU’s proposal would mean people from low-risk countries such as the UK could fly to anywhere in the continent.

The UK still requires people to take tests or quarantine when returning from abroad.

It comes as the boss of British Airways called on the Government to open up air travel to low-risk countries.

In a rallying cry to Ministers, Sean Doyle said data on vaccination and infection rates for countries including the US, Spain and Greece made a ‘compelling case’ for putting them on the green list for quarantine-free travel from early next month.

Yesterday Matt Hancock came under fire over the Government’s travel restrictions, with one senior Tory asking ‘what the point’ is of having a passport.

A member of the flight team on the plane to Madeira shows her delight at being airborne

A member of the flight team on the plane to Madeira shows her delight at being airborne

The Health Secretary appeared to rule out holidays to France, Spain and elsewhere by warning people should not travel to countries on the amber list unless they have an ‘exceptional’ reason to do so.

Digital portals such as NHS app to show if people had their jabs

 

Member states of the EU are set to recommend digital portals which will let people use the NHS app as a vaccine passport.

The EU is currently developing its own version to show people have had both their jabs.

The UK, with 44 cases per 100,000 people, and USA, with 35 per 100,000, are expected to be added to the bloc’s green list in the near future.

The NHS app, developed by NHS Digital and NHS England, is not the same as the Test and Trace App.

It was originally developed to allow people to book appointments, repeat prescriptions and see their full medical records. 

Both are available from Google Play store of Apple App Store 

Huw Merriman, who chairs the Transport Select Committee, said: ‘Given that he’s just effectively turned the amber list into red, can I ask him what the point of me having my passport is anymore?

‘Covid will always mutate, the vaccine will always have to keep up.

‘We managed to vaccinate 99% of the mortality risk.

‘When will this Government actually take a little bit of risk and allow people to get on with their lives again?’

Mr Hancock replied: ‘The red, amber and green lists are there reflecting risks that there are in other places around the world.

‘The amber list of course means that you have to quarantine at home, the red list means quarantine in a hotel, the green list means that we think that it is safe to travel.

‘So of course he should get his passport out, he can get on a plane to Portugal or one of the other countries.

‘It allows for some careful foreign travel, but my first duty is to protect the lives of people here in the UK and the best way to do that right now is to make sure we are cautious on international travel to protect the opening up here at home.’

Last week Boris Johnson said the quarantine-free travel green list will not be expanding ‘very rapidly’.

The Prime Minister said: ‘We will certainly be making sure that people travelling abroad will be subject to all the tests and constraints to prevent the virus being reimported.

‘That’s why it’s such a tiny list of countries and I don’t expect we will be adding to it very rapidly. We will be maintaining a very, very tough border regime for the foreseeable future. It is just too early to talk about exactly what the summer will be like.’

His downbeat outlook came as 18 airport bosses signed a letter urging Mr Johnson and his counterparts in the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to initiate ‘a more meaningful restart of travel’. 

They wrote: ‘We believe the current extremely limited green list of countries demonstrates that the UK is being overly cautious and will fail to grasp the opportunities resulting from the successful rollout of the vaccine.

A group of tourists who flew in earlier in the day from Manchester and Essex enjoy a drink by the marina in Vilamoura, in Portugal's southern Algarve region

A group of tourists who flew in earlier in the day from Manchester and Essex enjoy a drink by the marina in Vilamoura, in Portugal’s southern Algarve region

‘There are a million jobs in aviation, with a further half a million jobs relying on aviation in the tourism sector.

This is quite apart from the many sectors that need aviation in order to trade with both existing and new, developing markets. With the current restrictions the Government is applying, those jobs remain at very high risk.’

They warn ‘serious failures to manage the border’ also threaten the recovery.

There have been queues of up to seven hours at Heathrow as border guards check passengers’ Covid paperwork manually and electronic passport gates remain closed.